I took Bug Mad Girl up to Whiteleaf Hill to see if we could find the Earthstar again. I knew roughly where it was, but we had to do some hunting and eventually spotted it. It was smaller than on Thursday and had started to fall apart and be eaten. She saw it though, which was great.
 |
| The earthstar, starting to break down |
It's such a great spot for fungi, that we found several new types that I hadn't seen on Thursday. You still have to hunt around though as they are very well hidden in all the beech leaves. You never quite know what you might come across if you look behind just one more tree or log ....
There were a few Amethyst Deceivers. When they first emerge they are small domed purple fungi, but then the cap flattens out and the gills spread out.
 |
| A newly emerged Amethyst Deceiver |
 |
| Two older Amethyst Deceivers |
 |
| As they get older, Amethyst Deceivers flatten out and spread out their gills |
We found a few of these little grey/beige bonnets, with bright orange stems. I believe these could be called Saffrondrop Bonnets.
 |
| Saffrondrop Bonnets |
Bug Mad Girl found this fungus. It was well chewed but was unusual because it had a chestnut brown cap that was covered in white lumpy spots. There are a few things this could be, but I think it's most likely to be a Panther Cap, as the spots were white and the flesh hadn't changed colour where it had been eaten or damaged. (If the spots were grey it could have been a Grey Spotted Amanita and if the flesh had turned red where it was damaged it could have been called The Blusher). This is extremely poisonous, is related to Fly Agaric (red with white spots) and is most frequently found under Beech trees.
We spotted several Magpie Ink Caps today.
 |
This one really shows how the white spots are the remnants
of the veil that covered the newly emerging ink cap. It looks
like the cap has bits of tissue stuck to it. |
A few of our other finds ....
 |
| Cream coloured jelly fungus |
 |
| Bright yellow jelly fungus |
 |
| Bracket fungus, with a beech mast on top of it |
 |
| Another bracket fungus - full of different coloured rings |
 |
| White coral fungus |
 |
| Earth-tongue |
 |
Not sure what this is, but it was a pretty peach colour and was growing out
of the end of a tree stump |
 |
| Large wood mushroom, the size of a dinner plate |
 |
| Porcelain fungus - flies stuck all over its very sticky cap |
 |
Puffballs were everywhere. This one hasn't released it's spores yet, but you
can see where the knobbly bits are wearing off the surface and falling onto
the ground beneath it |
 |
Earthballs - similar to puffballs, except the spores are expelled through a
gaping split instead of a small round hole |
 |
I think this is a puffball because it has a short stem. Looks like its covered
in barnacles! |
 |
| Sickener |
 |
| Sickener |
 |
| Sulphur Tufts |
No comments:
Post a Comment